Investing
in Millennium Villages: What it Costs
One of the
most incredible aspects of Millennium Congregation's partnership
with Millennium Villages is the low cost of providing the poverty-ending
investments in agriculture, health, education, micro-finance,
and infrastructure. Part of the reason is that Millennium Villages
delivers practical and effectively low-cost interventions.
For example:
$10
Protects 25 people from malaria
$25 Feeds 50 school children for the year
$50 Provides education for 85 children for the year
$100 Helps 90 farmers grow food to feed their families
$250 Provides clean water for 300 people
$500 Finances a micro-enterprise cooperative for 600 women
The other
reason that Millennium Villages are cost-effective, is that the
costs are shared across various groups in true partnership to
empower the extreme power to lift themselves out of poverty and
build sustainable futures.
To fully fund
a Millennium Village, it costs $120 per villager per year over
the five years a village is funded. What makes Millennium Villages
all the more cost-effective is that Millennium Congregation donors
contribute just half (50%) of the total cost ($60 per villager
per year). The other $60 of the $120 total per villager cost is
funded through:
- $30 from
local and national governments
- $20 from
partner organizations (e.g. NGOs and private corporations)
- $10 from
village members (through in-kind contributions of their time
and expertise).
Contributions
to Millennium Congregation: How the Money is Spent
As Millennium
Congregation is currently in its start-up phase, we do not have
historical revenue and expense data at this point in time. As
an operating principle, Millennium Congregation is committed to
spending at least 85% of total expenses on Millennium Village
program costs and no more than 15% on our operational (administrative
and fundraising) expenses. The goal is to have our operational
costs be as low as possible while growing the number of Millennium
Villages as quickly as is feasible in advancing the MDGs and ending
extreme poverty.
Per Millennium
Congregation-supported Millennium Village, $300,000 a year will
directly go to the village for interventions in agriculture, health,
education, micro-finance and infrastructure. Revenue over $300,000
a year, per village, is divided between unrestricted Millennium
Congregation operational expenses, building a principle-restricted
backstop fund (to fund villages in the case of donor defaults),
and buidling several months of unrestricted cash reserves to cover
operational expenses.
Once our inaugural
village is fully subscribed with pledges, we will provide a report
on pledged income and budgeted expenses.
Accountability
and Transparency
Good stewardship
of the money that is entrusted to us in ending extreme poverty
is of the utmost importance to Millennium Congregation and the
Millennium Villages Project. Our funding model and expenses are
completely transparent both in funding Millennium Villages and
Millennium Congregation's operating expenses.
We provide
all our donors with regular updates (at least quarterly) on how
the money is being spent in the Millennium Village being directly
supported. Reports will often include actual pictures and stories
of those whose lives are being transformed, and ocassionally some
video from the village as well.
A regular
annual report will be released that detail Millennium Congregation's
work and financial condition. As is the practice in many congregations,
an independent audit of our books will be conducted annually and
the audit report made public.
Millennium
Congregation is built on the model of partnership: we are partnering
with our donors and together we are partnering with the poor to
end extreme poverty. If there is information that a donor, or
potential donor, requests, we will do our best to accomodate those
requests.
Beyond updates
and reports, Millennium Congregation offers the opportunity for
representatives from sponsoring congregations to visit the Millennium
Village and witness first-hand the incredible poverty-ending and
empowering work that is going on there.
There are
often questions about corruption in Africa and whether the money
sent to the villages actually gets there and is spent there. Millennium
Congregation maintains a direct partnership with every Millennium
Congregation-supported Millennium Village. We pay careful attention
to how the money is spent. Our funds for the village are transfered
directly to the Millennium Village project staff to pay for the
interventions in agriculture, health, education, and infrastructure.
The Millennium Villages Project keeps detailed records of how
money is spent for interventions and Millennium Congregation regularly
reports on those records.
Additionally, 14 years of the 1994 genocide, Rwanda is one of
the most stable and safe countries in Africa. The Rwandan government
and people are deeply committed to the Millennium Development
Goals through the work of Millennium Villages. We invite you to
read more about this on our Rwanda Millennium
Villages page.
Millennium
Congregation exists to help end extreme poverty in the most effective
way possible. Please know that the trust placed in us as good
stewards of the gifts we have been given is paramount.
